Rense: Nightmares Linked to Heart Attacks

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Nightmares Linked To Heart Attacks

9-1-03

 

(AAP) -- Vivid dreams and nightmares may be linked to an increased

incidence of heart attacks in the early morning, according to a

Freudian analysis of heart disease presented at a conference in the

hometown of the father of psychoanalysis.

 

Thomas Luscher told the annual meeting of the European Society of

Cardiology in Vienna that, although heart attacks occurred

throughout the day, their incidence increased after midnight, and

peaked between 3am and 5am.

 

" What's interesting is that this is when dreams become more frequent

and vivid, " said Dr Luscher, a cardiologist at the Zurich University

Hospital.

 

" Maybe there's a link which should be investigated. "

 

The link may be the stress or extreme emotion provoked by dreams,

the conference heard.

 

Sigmund Freud was born in the small town of Freiberg, Moravia (in

what is now the Czech Republic,) in 1856, but spent most of his life

in Vienna.

 

He is best known for his theory that sexual drive was the basis of

psychological problems. He became the first doctor to pay attention

to dreams, making ego and id household words, and prescribing

cocaine as a treatment for depression.

 

Freud's therapeutic enthusiasm for cocaine helped him pioneer work

in how psychological conditions affected the physical body, Dr

Luscher told delegates, particularly the link between the brain, the

sympathetic nervous system, and organs in the body.

 

A century later, medical researchers know more than ever about the

impact of psychological factors on cardiac health.

 

" There's a clear-cut link between the brain and the heart, " Dr

Luscher said.

 

Stress was known to increase blood pressure, and was a factor in

hypertension, showing that blood pressure responded when the

sympathetic nervous system was activated, he said.

 

The link was highlighted earlier this week in research released by

Swiss researchers that showed that out-of-hospital sudden cardiac

deaths increased by 60 per cent during the 2002 soccer World Cup,

compared with the same period the previous year.

 

Mental stress and anger among soccer enthusiasts was believed to

have been a major factor in the increase.

 

Dr Luscher said mental stress also affected the function of the

major arteries, and ultrasound analysis showed that stress could

cause the blood vessels to narrow to " almost disease states " , with

the effect persisting for up to an hour.

 

This was because stress caused the release of high levels of

serotonin, which, as well as being a key neurotransmitter, was a

powerful vasoconstrictor, or blood vessel-narrowing agent.

 

2003 The Age Company Ltd

 

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/01/1062383517266.html